Romantic San Francisco!
Nothing annoys me more than a business entity - such as a Hotel - that willfully and wrongfully misrepresent their amenities in a deceitful effort to book rooms.
The Balmoral Hotel on Clay Street in San Francisco is one of those establishments that deserves a place on the Consumer Alert list to ensure tourists are forewarned about their deceptive business practices.
For example, guests were recently lured to book rooms at the Balmoral, after noticing an ad in the local newspaper that advertised the Hotel offered free Wi-Fi service as an amenity.
In addition, a sign out-front boasted the free service, too.
Shortly after the guests checked in, the outrageous conduct of the staff reared its ugly head.
For instance, when the out-of-towers tried to log on to the Internet from their Hotel suite, they were denied access.
When one guest approached the manager shortly after checking in about the snafu, he protested up-and-down that Wi-Fi service was “sporadic” due to an unexpected snafu (did the forget to pay the bill?).
Guests were assured that if they persisted, eventually they’d be able to log on, no problem.
Early in the evening, when service was still not forthcoming, the Manager - a wimpy little dude with a bad attitude - started to give guests the run-around.
At this juncture, he fessed up that Wi-Fi service was down for a week, but was quite adamant that the problem was being fixed.
In view of the facts, the manager was remiss in his obligation to inform the guests before they paid for their suite, that a service they were in dire need of during the course of their stay was not available.
Bottom line, the guests should have been informed in advance, so they would have the opportunity to seek lodging elsewhere in the event the Wi-Fi was an essential amenity they could not forgo on.
It’s called disclosure.
Notwithstanding, it was downright unprofessional and dishonest to advertise a service, and not inform individuals when they checked in that the amenity was not currently available.
In fact, the bold-faced lies the manager engaged in throughout the week during the course of the tourist’s stay - in order to save face - were shocking to say the least.
On check-out day, the manager should have at least offered up a partial refund, and an apology for deliberately concealing the truth from the Hotel guest.
It should be noted that while the guest in question was on the property, city officials were inspecting the premises for cockroaches and bed bugs, too.
Need I say more?
Needless to say, I can not recommend this Hotel to any traveller, seeking shelter from the storm in San Francisco while on vacation, on a business trip, whatever.
The Balmoral Castle, it’s not, after all.
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